GREENVILLE, SC – The UNC Greensboro women's volleyball team lost its second straight Southern Conference match on Friday night as the Spartans suffered a 3-2 setback at Furman.
UNCG (9-5, 0-2 SoCon) has now dropped back-to-back matches for the first time this year. The Paladins (5-5, 1-0 SoCon) took home a conference opening victory by the score of 30-25, 27-30, 30-22, 26-30, 15-8 to send the Spartans to their second straight five-game defeat.
Senior Theresa Hart once again paced UNCG's offensive attack with a team-high 19 kills. Freshman Branagan Fuller added a season-high 15 kills, while sophomore Kaitlyn Nortz had 14 kills to put three Spartan players in double digits.
Hart also led the club with 22 digs, which represented the second time she has come up with more than 20 in a match this year, while freshman Catherine Hanners had 19 digs. In addition, freshman Kayleigh Knerr had 13 digs, while classmate Lisa Fawell notched 50 assists and 12 assists.
Chibuzo Aguocha notched a match-high 21 kills to add to her conference leading total. Whiteny Purser had 18 kills to her credit, while Nicole Palazzo and Kerry Wooten contributed 16 and 14 kills respectively.
In the fifth game, a 2-2 tie was broken when Furman ran off the next four points to go up 6-2 and the Paladins went on to take the deciding game 15-8.
Furman took control of game one midway through and went on to win 30-25 to take the early lead over the Spartans.
Game two saw the home team jump in front 15-4 after Wooten put away a kill that forced UNCG to take a timeout. The break in the action did the Spartans well as Hart led a Spartan comeback with five kills in a stretch that saw them go on a 22-11 run that squared the game, 26-26. From that point, Nortz put away a pair of kills to tie the match 1-1 with a 30-27 UNCG win in the second game.
The Paladins showed good form in the early portions of game three by going up 10-4. This time they held on to their lead and cruised to a 30-22 win and 2-1 advantage.
The Spartans went up 7-2 early in game four, but this one would be a nail biter the rest of the way with eight ties, the last coming at 20-20. A Fuller kill gave the Spartans the lead for good with a kill that propelled UNCG to a 30-26 win that sent the match into a fifth and final game.
UNCG comes back home to host SoCon rival Wofford on Tuesday at 7 pm at Fleming Gym.
AGATE
Furman def. UNC Greensboro 30-25, 27-30, 30-22, 26-30, 15-8
UNC Greensboro (9-5, 0-2 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Theresa Hart 19-1-3; Branagan Fuller 15-0-1; Kaitlyn Nortz 14-1-5; Hilary Overby 7-0-1; Liz Benzschawel 3-0-2; Lisa Fawell 2-0-2; Catherine Hanners 0-1-0; Christin Heverly 0-2-0; Totals 60-5-7.0. (Assists) – Lisa Fawell 50. (Dig leaders) - Theresa Hart 22; Catherine Hanners 19; Kayleigh Knerr 13; Lisa Fawell 12.
Furman (5-5, 1-0 SoCon) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Chibuzo Aguocha 21-2-0; Whitney Purser 18-0-5; Nicole Palazzo 16-0-8; Kerry Wooten 14-1-6; Ally Hock 6-0-6; Courtney Stewardson 3-1-3; Kim Tonkin 0-3-0; Totals 78-7-16.0. (Assists) - Courtney Stewardson 68. (Dig leaders) – Kim Tonkin 25; Chibuzo Aguocha 17; Courtney Stewardson 17; Whitney Purser 11; Ally Hock 8.
- UNCG -
